Police, fire officials close investigations into hoarding house

David Hennessey

Updated 10:20 pm, Saturday, March 2, 2013

Fire and police officials have closed their investigations into the Havemeyer Lane home, shown here in October 2012, that was plagued by a severe hoarding problem and scorched by an arson fire in October. The situation in the home ended in tragedy, as Dean Verboven, 42, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, and his 69-year-old mother, Barbara Verboven, was seriously burned in the blaze. Officials have not yet said who started the fire.
Photo: Helen Neafsey

In the driveway, a Jeep Grand Cherokee and aging red van remain in the same positions they were in five months ago.

In the yard, an enclosure holds an array of items, including a basketball hoop, the net of which appears old and gray.

A phone book contained in a plastic bag is strewn on the lawn. Gardening equipment leans against the house. The Dumpster that sat on the property five months ago, however, is gone.

It is a house marked by tragedy. It is a house that has changed little since an intentionally set fire scorched its cluttered inside last October.

Despite the inactivity at the home where Dean and Barbara Verboven once lived, officials have been busy finishing their investigations into the events that occurred there in the fall.

Fire and police officials said this week they have closed their investigations into the blaze at the home, which was plagued by a severe hoarding problem.

The situation there had a grisly ending, as Dean Verboven, 42, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and his 69-year-old mother, Barbara Verboven, was seriously burned in the fire, though she survived.

Officials have not yet said who started the fire.

Fire Marshal James McDonald said this week the only piece of information the department is still waiting on is a set of results from a state laboratory concerning the liquid substance found in two small bottles in the upstairs of 46 Havemeyer Lane.

The containers were labeled "kerosene," McDonald said.

"You can't presume that it is kerosene just because it's labeled kerosene," he said.

McDonald would not elaborate on the exact location where the containers were found, and said fire officials have not made a determination as to what the containers were doing there.

Kerosene wasn't splashed around the upstairs, and the bottles never ignited, he said.

Though the fire was intentionally set and began in the kitchen, fire officials do not know the exact mechanism by which the fire was started.

A state canine that sniffs out accelerants did not find any kerosene near the kitchen, McDonald said.